Obama Fort Bragg

Obama Fort Bragg, All told, 202 troops from the Army post near Fayetteville, N.C., were killed while serving in Iraq, and at least another 200 died in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of forces stationed at Fort Bragg have served in the two conflicts.

On Wednesday, President Obama and wife Michelle will appear at the post to thank American troops for their service in Iraq as the United States prepares to withdraw all forces from the country by the end of the month. The president is scheduled to deliver remarks at 11:55 a.m. at the 440th Structural Maintenance Hangar.

Though the end of the war meets a timeline that was negotiated by Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, the White House has portrayed the milestone as a promise kept by the president as he begins to ramp up his 2012 reelection effort.

On March 19, 2008 — the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war — then-Senator Obama (D-Ill.) traveled to Fayetteville to give a campaign speech promising to end the conflict.

“The war in Iraq has done more to embolden America’s enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades,” Obama said then. “I will offer a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.”

Yet Obama has been criticized by his political opponents for his decision to remove the troops, which came after he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki failed to come to an agreement on a pact to leave some U.S. forces in the country for training and security.